After years of talking about building for the future, the early indications are the Jets have more than just potential this season.

ANAHEIM — Is this hot start a mirage or a sign of things to come for the Winnipeg Jets?

It’s a question worth investigating further as the Jets reached American Thanksgiving not only in a playoff spot, but tied for third in the entire NHL with 29 points.

No, that’s not a misprint.

Through 21 games of the 2017-18 season, only the Tampa Bay Lightning (34) and St. Louis Blues (33) have more points than the Jets, who sport a record of 13-5-3 as they prepare to face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday afternoon at the Honda Center.

After years of talking about building for the future, the early indications are the Jets have more than just potential this season.

They’re finding ways to win games where previous incarnations may have folded under pressure.

Instead of crumbling after a disappointing 0-2 start where the Jets often looked lost defensively, they found a way to band together.

The Jets haven’t lost consecutive games in regulation since Oct. 7, a span of 19 games.

That’s impressive.

The topic of the Jets becoming more comfortable in their own skin as a “winning team brought some interesting answers following Thursday’s quick workout at the Honda Center.

“We can be happy with how we’ve approached everything,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “We can be happy with the strides we’ve made in the first quarter, but the realization is there are three quarters ahead of us. We’re excited about where we’re at, but I think we’re even more excited about the fact we can get better every single day. That’s been our focus so far this year, we continue to do that and hopefully, we can keep this going.”

That singular focus is essential, since it’s easy for a team that hasn’t enjoyed much success to get off track or temporarily forget the importance of paying attention to the little details that have been an important part of this resurgence.

“If there was something you could grab hold of and say it’s permanent, then the game would never humble you — and it always will,” said Maurice. “If you spend any time thing thinking about where we’re at as a permanent thing or that somehow any of this gets any easier, that’s a dangerous place to go mentally.”

Although being in a playoff position at American Thanksgiving is a good indicator of the teams that actually qualify for the post-season, it’s still not anything close to a guarantee.

“You don’t read headlines, you don’t focus on where you are in the standings, you just focus on the next game,” said Wheeler. “It’s trying to keep that one-tracked mind. Worry about the day you have in front of you. And do that every single day. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. If you start doing that, you’re going to slip up.”

To put it bluntly, the Jets don’t want to become a statistic or be part of the roughly 20% of teams that don’t hold onto their playoff spot after American Thanksgiving.

With 61 games left on the regular-season docket, it’s not like the Jets can afford to put things on cruise control.

Not even close.

Despite having only five regulation losses through the first quarter of the season, the Jets hold only a one-point lead over the Nashville Predators in the chase for second spot in the Central Division.

There’s something different about this Jets team – and not just the elite-level goaltending it is receiving from Connor Hellebuyck and more recently from Steve Mason, who has allowed only four goals during his past three starts.

“It’s a good feeling in the locker room,” said Jets forward Patrik Laine. “It’s nice to come to the rink in the morning because you know that every night you have a chance to win. You’re expecting to be winning the game. The atmosphere is so much different than last year, where we were always battling between losing streaks and winning a couple of games. Now we’re expecting we can win every single night. It’s a whole different situation and it’s way more fun.”

The scary thing for their opponents is as well as the Jets have played to reach this point, there’s another level they can reach.

“There’s always things we can improve,” said Laine. “It tells you a lot about our team, that even though we’re not always playing our best game, we can still win. “That’s the sign of a good team.”

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